Toy



Oct. 10, 1933. Q A LANGQS 1,930,450

TOY

Filed Deo. 17, 1931 zz 39 X33;

W2 11 "L lml Il l. i m` Patented Oct. 10, 1933 UNITED STATES TOY tion ofIllinois Application December 17, 1931 Serial No. 581,570

6 Claims.

lVIy invention relates to a toy and particularly to a spring-drivenwheeled toy adapted to runon any smooth surface.

In many of the spring-driven toys on the marliet today, in almost everyinstance the spring is wound by a key which either is detachable, or ifnot, protrudes from the mechanismso as to be easily gripped and turned.If the liey is detachable it invariably becomes lost, and if notdetachable it will turn with the shaft as the spring is unwound, and inits exposed position often catches on various objects, as the toy ispropelled so as to halt its progress. Also, such a toy ordinarily willstop when the spring has become completely unwound.

An object of my invention is to provide a spring-driven toy in which thewinding member is permanently secured to the shaft carrying the drivingspring, said winding member so designed and mounted as to be readilygripped and moved, yet in a position so as not to catch on variousobjects and halt the toys progress when being propelled.

. A further object of my invention is to provide a spring-driven toyhaving a free or over-running friction clutch which will enable the toyto go forward under its own momentum after the spring has becomecompletely unwound.

A further object is to provide a spring-driven toy sturdy in itsconstruction, with a compact driving mechanism capable of moving the toyover considerable distances.

Other objects and advantages will appear as the description proceeds.

Referring now to the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a plan View of a chassis with the mechanism of my inventionmounted thereon,

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same,

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view of the driving and clutch mechanismtaken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary View of the driving mechanism taken on line 4 4of Fig. 3,

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view showing the position of the winding lever,and driving spring when completely wound,

Fig. 6 is a perspective of the friction pawl, and,

Fig. '.7 is a view of the pivot screw by which the friction pawl issecured to the main gear.

In the accompanying drawing I have illustrated simply a chassis l0 uponwhich any kind of a toy body may be mounted. This chassis is providedwith wheels 1l and 12 carried by axle 13, and wheels lll and 15 securedto the driving axle 16.

I provide a driving mechanism for the toy mounted in franiev17, which inturn is secured to the chassis l0, in a position adjacent the drivingaxle 16. In my driving mechanism the motive power is supplied by aspring 18 carried by the shaft 19. This spring is secured at one end tothe frame 17 by means of a bolt 2l, and the other end of spring issecured to a drum 23 by means of a bolt 22. The drum 23 is permanently`secured to the shaft 19 in any desired manner. A winding lever 24 fitsover one end of shaft 19 protruding from frame i7, with said lever 24rigidly secured to the shaft by means of pin 26 or in any other desiredmanner. Shaft 19 is carried by the frame 17 as shown particularly inFig. 3.

The driving gear 27 is also carried by the shaft 19. The side walls offrame 17 are so spaced as to act as collars upon the shaft 19, as wellas bearings and when frame 17 is completely assembled driving gear 27will be held in a position on the shaft 19 so that one face is flushwith the edge of the flange on theV open face of the drum 23 (Fig. 3).Within the drum and secured to the gear 27 I provide a free oroverrunning friction clutch composed of friction pawls 28 and 29 (Fig.4) pivotally connected to gear 27 by pivot screws 31 and 32respectively. The friction pawls are held in spaced relation just offcenter on the face of the gear 27 by springs 33 and 34. These springsare secured to the gear 27 at one end and to a friction pawl at theother end; .The pivot screws 3l and 32 are tightened into threaded holesdrilled into the gear 27, on a line representing the diameter of acirclerformed by the circumference of the gear. The springs 33 and 34hold the friction pawls 28 and 29 in position so that the points ofengagement 35 and 36 of the outer edges of these pawls are just oicenter of this line.

I also provide a reduction gear 37 rigidly secured to shaft 39 alongwith pinion gear 38, said shaft 39 carried by frame 17. Gear 27 mesheswith pinion gear 38, and reduction gear 37 meshes with driven gear 41rigidly secured to driving axle 16.

In the operation of the toy of my invention the spring 18 must rst bewound. Inv winding the spring the toy may be held in the hand meanwhilegrasping the driving wheels 14 and 15, or the toy may remain on thesurface over which it will run. Ihe lever 24 is moved from its normalposition as shown in Fig. l, to the position shown by the dotted line.When fully wound, the spring 18 and lever 2d will appear in the positionshown in Fig. 5. The winding operation is accomplished with littleeffort regardless of the size of the spring, because of the ease withwhich the lever may be grasped, and the length of same which results ina considerable force being applied on the shaft 19 with minimum efforton the part of the person winding.

During the winding operation the gear 27 remains stationary, andconsequently so also do the driving wheels. This is accomplished by theoperation of the free or overrunning friction clutch e). As explainedheretofore, the ends of the dr ing spring 18 are secured to the frame 17and di um and the spring is carried by shaft 19. Drum 23 is rigidlysecured to shaft 19. As the lever 2i is brought up back thereby windingthe spring, drum 23 moves therewith. The inner surface of the flange onthe open face of the drum, slides over the friction pawls 28 and 29. Theforce is applied on the pawls in a counterclookwise direction whichmoves the pawls so that the points 35 35 thereon are out of engagementwith the drum. Springs 33 and 34 prevent pawls 2S and 29 from pivotingcompletely away from the flange of the drum. This gear Z7 to which thefriction pawls arey pivotally secured remains stationary during thewinding operation.

lis the spring unwinds, force will be applied to the drum in a clockwisedirection (looking at drum in position of Fig. e) thereby driving it insuch direction. The inner surface of the flange on the open face of drum23 frictionally engages the pawl 2S on its outer edge at the point 35,and pawl 29 on its outer edge at the point 3e. The pawls are therebypushed into a wedging engagement withthe inner surface of the flange byreason of the force applied by the drum after the original frictionalengagement, and the design of the outer edge of the pawl.. As the drummoves in a clockwise direction in response to the action of the spring18, the driving gear 27 will also move therewith by reason of theuni-directional clutoh action of the pawls. As motion is imparted to thegear 27 it in turn drives the reduction gear 3'? through the pinion gear38 both of which are rigidly secured to shaft 39. The reduction gear 3'7in turn meshes with and drives gear 4l thereby driving axle 16. This, ofcourse, drives wheels 14- and 15 thereby moving the toy forward over thedesired surface. Y The spring i8 drives the toy forward until it hasreached its normal position. At that particular moment lever 24 is alsoin its normal positionthat shown in Fig. l-resting against the bed ofthe chassis 10, and is prevented from moving further. W hen the lever 24reaches this point and stops, the drum 23 rigidly secured to the shaft19 and being driven by spring 18 also stops. However, by this time thetoy has gained considerable momentum by reason of the speed at which itwas propelled by the spring and the relatively heavy weight of the toy,and by reason of the clutch action of the pawls the gear 27 continues torevolve moved by the forward motion of the wheels 14 and l5 transmittingtheir power through the gear. train described heretoforea Drum 23 havingstopped is no longer imparting a pushing force to the'pawls, therebyforcing them into a wedging engagement with the inner surface of theflange, but the gear 27 moving in a clockwise direction now pulls thepawls by means of the springs 33 and 34, and the pawls simply slide onthe inner surface of the flange of the drum, allowing the momentum ofthe toy to completely spend itself.

I have, therefore, a sturdy spring-driven toy, with a powerful compactdriving mechanism. Although l have shown my mechanism as mounted vdrumon a chassis adopted to carry any type of body simulating a motorvehicle, I do not confine myself thereto, but recognize that it may beadopted to any kind of a driven toy.

What l claim is new and desire to protect by Letters Patent of theUnited States is:-

1. In a toy of the class described, a relatively heavy body, a drivewheel axle and drive gear iixedly secured thereto, a spring carryingshaft, a free-running driving gear on the spring shaft, gearinginterposed between the driving gear and vdrive gear, a friction clutchinterposed between the spring shaft and driving gear, and a springhaving one end secured to the body and the other end secured to theclutch to permit winding the spring by rotation of the spring shaftwithout rotating the driving gear and whereby the spring shaft anddriving gear are thereupon rotated in an unwinding driving directionresponsive to the spring to drive the body forward.

2. In a toy of the class described, a relatively heavy body, a drivewheel axle, a spring carrying shaf a clutch drum secured to the springshaft, a free running driving gear on the spring shaft, a Vspring havingone end secured to the drum and the other end to the body, frictionclutch'pawls interposed between the drum and gear arranged to permitwinding the spring by rotation of the spring shaft in a windingdirection without rotating the gear and to drive the spring shaft andgear in an unwinding driving direction by the spring responsive tounwinding of the spring, and gearing interposed between the driving gearand drive wheel axle to drive the body forward responsive to saiddriving movement of the gear.

3. In a toy of the class described, a relatively heavy body, springdriving means for said toy including a spring carrying shaft, an openfaced Ysecured to said shaft, a driving spring having one end secured tothe outside face of the drum and the other end to the body, a free'running driving gear carried by the spring shaft immediately adjacentthe open face of the drum, an overrunning friction clutch interposedbetween the spring 'shaft and driving gear, said clutch comprisingfriction pawls pivotally secured to the driving gear and springs havingone end attached to the gear and the other to the pawl for holding thepawls in sliding engagement with the inner surface of the flangedcircumferenceof the drum to permit winding of the driving spring withoutrotating the driving gear, and said pawls in position to frictionallyengage said inner surface of the flanged circumference when the springshaft is rotated in an unwinding driving direction by the spring wherebysaid driving gear is moved with the drum, means for moving forward saidtoy in response to rotation of the driving gear, and means for stoppingrotation of spring shaft after unwinding of spring whereby said pawlsact in sliding engagement on said inner surface offlange permittingforward coasting movement of the body under the Amomentum of said body.

4. In a toy of the class described, a relatively heavy body, a drivewheel axle and drive gear iixedly secured thereto, a spring carryingshaft carried by said body, a free running driving gear on the springshaft, gearing interposed between the drivinggear and drive gear, afriction clutch interposed between the spring shaft and driving gear,and a driving spring having lone end secured to the clutch, a windinglever secured to said spring shaft whereby said shaft is moved in awinding direction winding therewith the driving spring, said clutchpermitting the winding operation without rotation of driving gear, andcausing rotation of driving gear with the spring shaft in an unwindingdirection responsive to the spring to drive the body forward, and meansfor stopping said winding lever after unwinding of spring whereby saidspring shaft is stopped and said clutch permitting forward coastingmovement of the body under the momentum of same after unwinding of thespring.

5. In a spring motor having a housing therefor, a spring carrying shaftjournalled in said housing, a free running driving gear on said springshaft, a friction clutch interposed between the spring shaft and drivinggear comprising an open faced drum secured to said shaft with the openface adjacent the free running gear, friction pawls movably carried bysaid gear and in sliding engagement with the inner surface of theflanged circumference of the drum, a driving spring having one endsecured to the drum and the other end to the housing whereby the clutchpermits Winding of the spring without rotation of the free running gearand drives the gear in an unwinding driving direction in response to theunwinding of the spring.

6. In a toy of the class described, a relatively heavy chassis, a drivewheel axle, a driving spring motor carried in a housing mounted on thechassis, said motor comprising a spring carrying shaft journalled in thehousing, a free running gear on the spring shaft, a friction clutchinterposed between said gear and the spring shaft, a driving springhaving one end secured to the clutch and the other end to the housing,gearing between said free running gear and the drive wheel axle to movethe toy, an elongated winding lever secured to the spring shaft outsidethe housing to wind the spring, said clutch permitting the windingoperation by movement of the spring shaft Without rotation of thefreerunning gear and driving said gear in an unwinding directionresponsive to the unwinding lof the spring, said winding lever adaptedto move through an arc to wind the spring and subsequently to returnthrough said arc upon the complete unwinding of the spring, whereby thelever rests against the chassis to stop the movement of the spring shaftand said friction clutch permits a forward coasting movement of the toyunder the momentum of said body after the spring is unwound.

OTTO A. LANGOS.

